Images

The inscription yong'an wuzhu, 5 gram coin of Yong'an period, is one of the earliest dated coin inscriptions. Copper alloy. Obverse, 4-character Chinese inscription. Minted in China; ruler Emperor Xiaozhuangdi. Northern Wei Dynasty, c. 529...

This is a copper alloy coin with a double rim, worth 50 standard coins. Obverse, Chinese inscription. Minted in China. Tang Dynasty, 759 CE. (The British Museum, London).

So-called knife money, worth 5000 standard coins. Obverse, Chinese inscription. Minted in China; ruler Wang Mang. Wang Mang's four coinage reforms were not successful and the widely accepted wuzhu were soon re-issued. Xin Dynasty, 9-23 CE...

Also called Kaiyuan tongbao. This was the first imperial coin to use a four-character inscription with the term tongbao , meaning "coin", (circulating money), which then became customary on Chinese coins up to the 20th century. Copper alloy...

The external surface of this thick-walled silver bowl was inscribed and decorated with a central male figure surrounded by four hunters; two hunters wear crowns similar to last Kidarite coins. It was originally gilded. Hephthalite period...

Bronze spade money (worth 25 standard coins) with Chinese inscription, minted in China under the rule of Wang Mang, Xin Dynasty, 9-23 CE. Wang Mang's four coinage reforms were not successful and the widely accepted wuzhu were soon reissued...

A 14th century CE illustration of a medieval butcher.

An illustration of a medieval baker and his apprentice. (From 'The Medieval Cookbook' by M.Black)

Grossmünster Cathedral in Zürich, Switzerland contains a nearby cloister that was refurbished and renovated in the 1960s. The original cloister dates from c. 1170 CE.

Funerary stone monument in the shape of a rowing ship for transport of wine barrels on the Moselle river. The barge is loaded with four large wine-barrels, and manned by six oarsmen and two steersmen, one of whom is marking the time by clapping...